Knee Pain

What is knee pain

Knee pain is a very common complaint in the clinic which can be caused by various different sources, including impact, postural and disease. It can be a very debilitating pain with various different ranges of pains from constant to sharp sudden pain. In Amg therapy’s physical therapy clinic in Letterkenny we can treat a wide range of knee pain from different sources most commonly is the postural distortion knee pain.

Postural distortion knee pain

The majority of knee pain that Aiden will see in the clinic will be pain that is being referred into the knee from myofascial trigger point activity in the Quadriceps, adductors, hamstrings and iliotibial band. The Quadriceps muscles for example contribute a significant influence on anterior pelvic rotation, knee cap tracking and knee positioning which if short and tight can cause postural differences in the rotation of your hip and cause the knee to track offline. This will then have a knock on effect on the surrounding tissues causing trigger point activity as the muscles tries to regain functionality of weakening tissue.

This could mean that along with the active pain into the knee from the quadriceps we would then have activity from the hamstrings, Glutes and iliotibial band also referring pain into the knee. The treatment plan for this example would include the treatment of the all the above mentioned tissues reintroducing balance in the area but also dealing with why the quadriceps tightened in the first place, this more often than not involves the main hip flexor muscle called iliopsoas. This is only one example of trigger point activity causing the pain in the knee, the original source may not be the quadriceps, however the correct initial assessment will take place in amgtherapy in order to maximise the opportunity for you to be pain free.

An example of knee pain from a client

A client arrived at amgtherpy physical therapy clinic with knee pain. They were on a waiting list for keyhole surgery to eliminate consistent pain in their knee for a number of years. They had giving up running due to the pain and was feeling depressed at the constant struggle to be pain free. They had been to the doctor and got referred for an MRI scan which showed up no defects in which they could identify the source of the pain. She got referred for some physiotherapy treatment but no real benefits had occurred at the end of treatment. Over a period of time the pain had got worse and returned to a private consultant who referred her for keyhole surgery around the area. In the mean time she got word from a friend about amgtherapy in Letterkenny and came along for a treatment.

Within minutes of the treatment beginning (after consultation) Aiden was creating her pain in the knee from the quadriceps muscle (which she couldn’t believe and had never got treated in the quadriceps previously) at the end of the treatment she felt a major difference with minimal pain left in the knee. Over the period of a further 3 sessions which included the treatment and balancing of her feet on the same side she regained full pain free movement and cancelled the keyhole surgery. She returned to clinic this year with a separate shoulder injury confirming she is still pain free 18months after treatment.